Reflekting ('Reflekdoll' divergence)
by Miraculous-Content
Summary: Marinette was already having a bad day. Between Reflekta interrupting her photoshoot with Adrien, being told that Juleka's akumatization was all her fault, and then having to use a miraculous she wasn't used to, there was a lot weighing on her mind. However, when she ends up running (well, crashing) into Luka that day as well, some of that weight starts to lift right off.


Lady Noire knew very well that no sane villain would want the hero with the miraculous they needed to be flung into the sky and far away from the battle to _retrieve_ said miraculous. Thus, when Reflekdoll had grabbed hold of her and flung her into the sky and far away from the battle, she got an answer to the question of what happens when a sentimonster gets Cataclysm'd.

New problem—she had been flung into the sky and far away from the battle—but at least that information was nice to know.

Lady Noire could hear Mister Bug's calling of her fade, the world blurring as she soared through the sky. Her first instinct was to reach for her yoyo, but of course, it wasn't there. Thus, she was helpless.

She braced herself for impact with the ground, but was surprised as she hit something much softer than she'd prepared for. Her face touched fabric, and whatever it was attached to let out a grunt at the collision.

Quickly recovering from the dizziness she felt, Lady Noire put her hands on the ground and went to push herself up. She glanced forward to look at her surroundings, only to come face-to-face with _Luka Couffaine,_ who looked back at her with wide eyes.

Her first reaction was _Oh! It's Luka!_ while her second was _Oh, it's Luka and he just broke my fall and I'm laying on him._

A purr just barely bubbled out of her throat before she forced herself up. "Ah, sorry, Lu—_citizen._ I'm a little out of my element playing the role of the cat."

Luka blinked, staring quietly at her for a little longer than she'd expected. Finally, he replied, "Ladybug?"

She nodded, pulling out her baton and giving it a twirl like she often did when using her yoyo as a shield. "That's right. It's 'Lady Noire' for now though."

Now that she had a chance to look at her surroundings—w-well, the _rest_ of her surroundings—she noticed that they were standing near the bakery and the park. Curious, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Luka pushed himself up to a stand, adjusting his jacket. "I came to check on my sister," he explained, "but…"

He tossed a concerned glance back at the bakery. Immediately, Lady Noire felt guilt building in her stomach.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Your sister's been akumatized by Hawk Moth again."

Luka looked back at her, gaping, then frowned miserably and pressed his palm to his forehead. "I should've known. She must not've been ready to model. I should've come with her, I—"

Lady Noire stepped forward, placing her hands on his shoulders comfortingly. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. It…"

She paused, her grip on his shoulders unintentionally tightening. In an instant, all the comments Reflekta had made towards her while she was de-tranformed came rushing back to her. She averted her gaze, feeling unworthy of looking at Luka.

"It's that foolish Marinette girl who's at fault. _She_ got your sister akumatized. She was just thinking of herself and her project, and left your sister alone as the perfect target."

She felt terrible. She wished she could make it up to him, or at least let him help. Honestly, the extra assistance would even be nice, given that she was using an unfamiliar miraculous.

But she didn't have a miraculous to give him, and she'd just feel even more guilty if Reflekta managed to shoot _him_ too. Ultimately, this was _her_ responsibility, so _she_ had to fix it.

Sighing, she let go of Luka, turning away and pulling out her baton. "Stay safe. I'm sure we'll get your sister back to her normal self."

She went to walk forward, only to feel her wrist being grabbed. Surprised, she jerked her gaze back to Luka, who seemed unusually tense.

Brows furrowed and eyes sharp, he glanced down at his hand on her wrist. It took him a moment, but his eyes then widened, as if he just realized what he did. He retracted his hand, staring at it for a second before looking back at her.

"I…" He frowned. "I think you're wrong about Marinette."

Lady Noire blinked, confused. She knew that she should leave, but something about the way he was staring at her compelled her to stay. "What?"

"Marinette isn't like that," Luka argued. "She's sweet. She cares about everyone. I'm sure she did everything she could for Jule."

She felt a blush coming on, but tried to push past it. "B-but, Reflekta—_your sister,_ she said—"

"Juleka has a good heart," he cut in, hands tightening into fists at his sides, "but she can deflect easily. She doesn't always know who to blame." He stared at her with resolve, looking near-offended as he added, "I know Marinette didn't do this to her. She wouldn't."

Lady Noire opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Luka just looked so sure of himself, like he was _there_ and he'd already had everything figured out.

"Um—" She turned her head back in the direction of the battle, ignoring the pounding of her head. "I…I need to go. I've already been away for too long."

She didn't see his reaction, nor hear his response, as she used her baton to launch herself up to the nearest rooftop. His words were still playing in her head, but she quickly got back into focus as she dashed along the rooftops to head back to the fight.

Though, that didn't stop her from whispering an unheard, "thank you," to him under her breath.

* * *

Luka had made it to where Juleka and the others were a little after Miraculous Ladybug had spread over the city. He'd tried to stay away from the battle, though the temptation to step in and try to reason with his sister had been strong. Thus, he'd stayed _close,_ but not close enough to where he'd be in the way.

Almost all the girls were standing in a group, their attention focused on Juleka. Just as Luka approached, wondering where Marinette—the only girl missing—was, she came running from the opposite side he did, beaming and looking happy to see everyone.

Immediately, Luka flashed back to what Ladybug (as the cat) had told him. He stopped a small distance away from the group, taking a moment to watch the scene unfold.

"Girls!" Marinette exclaimed. She slouched as she reached them, hands on her knees as she panted. Mylene gave her a comforting pat, letting her catch her breath.

"Marinette!" Alya cheered with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Ah—" Marinette looked up, ready to respond, but stopped when her eyes locked on Juleka. Juleka had her arms crossed, her gaze averted from Marinette as she put on a pout.

Luka _recognized_ that pout.

Marinette hesitated, seeming to think to herself momentarily, then said, "I'm _so_ sorry, Juleka. I didn't know how important this shoot was to you."

_That line_ got Luka's attention, and he stored it away for future reference.

Marinette smiled sheepishly, asking Juleka gently, "Do you… want to give it another try?"

By that point, Adrien had run up behind them, wearing the same outfit as Marinette was. Luka observed that fact, trying to piece together what he could from the limited information he had.

He _knew_ that Marinette had tunnel vision when it came to Adrien, but something… wasn't _right._ He could _feel_ it.

Juleka brightened at Marinette's apology. "Y-yeah! Totally!" she replied, reaching to move her hair out from in front of her left eye before deciding against it.

Luka saw his chance to intervene. He stepped forward. "Jule?"

Everyone turned to face him, either looking confused or giving him a polite wave. Marinette, meanwhile, met his gaze for only a second before looking away. She reached up to touch her face in a gesture he didn't quite understand, but his focus was elsewhere anyway.

He walked over to the group, reaching around to grab Juleka's shoulder. "Do you mind if I borrow my sister for a bit?"

"Uh—" Juleka blinked, giving him a wary gaze.

Marinette went to reply, but a grunt coming roughly from where Adrien was distracted her. Luka turned, seeing a large man standing near Adrien, a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"Can't I stay a little longer? It's important," Adrien told the man with a frown.

Alya stepped in front of Luka, making a shooing motion. "You go. We've got a thing to handle first anyway," she said, promptly walking towards Adrien.

The rest of the girls followed, Marinette giving Luka a fleeting glance before joining the others.

Luka didn't look at Juleka immediately, slowly leading her away from everyone else to give them some privacy. As soon as they were behind one of the many raised statues, keeping them hidden, Luka released her and offered a patient look. "What happened?"

Juleka looked away, seeming ashamed. "Um…"

Noting that she clearly didn't want to talk about it (not that he was surprised), Luka mulled over his options. He was fine going slow if that was the only way to solve this puzzle. "It's okay if you were too nervous to ask about modeling."

"_I wasn't,_" Juleka responded almost immediately. Luka knew she had a bit of pride in improving herself, so that was the reaction he expected.

"And she said yes." It wasn't a question. Marinette had needed a model for a reason and Luka was _certain_ that she wouldn't go back on it, even for Adrien, unless there was another factor at work.

Juleka peeked up at him, looking surprised that he'd guessed correctly. She nodded.

"Then what?" he asked cautiously, understanding that this was likely where something bad happened.

She lowered her gaze, letting out one of her usual mumbling noises. Once again, Luka realized that he was going nowhere.

He glanced back out to where the girls and Adrien were, eyeing Adrien specifically this time. He didn't know _everything_ about him, but him being a model was common knowledge.

He looked back at Juleka. "I know it must've been tough, modeling in front of a model," he sympathized. Giving a pointed look at her hair, remembering how she'd shied away from putting it up earlier, he added, "and your hairclip is gone."

Juleka rubbed her arm. Luka could see the flash of anxiety in her eyes.

She mumbled a few words that only Luka would ever be able to make out. "That bad, huh?"

Another nod. Juleka then reached up, making a motion like there was something on her head and she was pulling it off.

Luka recalled the beret that Marinette and Adrien had been wearing. "Someone just… took it?" He paused, her expression answering for her. Though he twitched a bit at the idea of someone just ripping something off her head like that, he also added, "But it wasn't Marinette."

Juleka went to reply, but stopped herself. Her gaze wavered, dropping to the ground.

"Did Marinette talk to you about it?" Luka asked. After all, if anyone knew about anxiety, it was Marinette.

Once more, Juleka didn't respond. Luka remained cautious, but let out a firm, "_Juleka._"

"…Yeah, she did," she finally admitted. "She tried."

_And you didn't answer,_ Luka finished in his head. "And it wasn't Marinette who decided to switch models?"

"…No. Not really."

Luka nodded. With that mystery solved, he reached for his phone and pulled it out, keeping the video on mute as he replayed some of the footage from the recent fight. He didn't want to show Juleka the video itself, but he had other unresolved issues to address.

"You know, when you were akumatized, you didn't go after _just_ Marinette," he told her, "you went after Rose too."

Juleka jerked her gaze up at him, looking shocked at that. Luka wasn't overly familiar with how being akumatized worked, but he knew that akumatized people didn't target others at random. He also knew that Rose wouldn't have left Juleka alone either, at least not without saying anything.

It was a pattern.

Putting his phone away, Luka hunched down to Juleka's level and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know you really wanted to model, but no one can read your mind, Jule."

He paused, adding a slightly playful, "Well, except for me."

Juleka's lips twitched briefly into a smile, but the realization of who she'd directed her anger at was clearly dawning on her.

Luka continued, "When I told you not to let this chance pass you by, I didn't just mean in modeling." The words Lady Noire had told him briefly flittered into his mind. "I can't always be there for you. I want you to be able to stand up for yourself, but I don't want you to take things out on the wrong people."

She looked at him solemnly, but he knew it was because she understood. Luka didn't enjoy lecturing her, but this was a habit of hers that he knew needed breaking.

Suddenly, a voice cut in, "Um…"

Luka glanced over, seeing Marinette standing there, awkwardly turning her beret in her hands.

"Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt, but we have to do the modeling soon—" She pointed back to the group. "—before Adrien's bodyguard changes his mind."

Luka straightened, giving her a warm smile. "Don't worry, Marinette. We just finished."

He felt Juleka's eyes on him. He looked back at her, offering a gentle look of encouragement.

Juleka made a bit of a face at him, but in that "I hate when you're right" sort of way. She approached Marinette, and Luka safely tuned out the conversation since Juleka's expression gave away what she was going to say. He figured he'd offer her a sense of privacy, even if she didn't exactly know that's what he was doing.

As Juleka talked, Luka saw Marinette's expression change from confused, to surprised, and then to empathetic. Marinette wasn't confrontational around her friends, readily apologizing when she didn't have to, so Luka didn't mind stepping in for her considering the circumstances.

Juleka then walked off to join the others, and Luka didn't miss how she struggled to make eye contact with Alya. Marinette, meanwhile, looked at him, looked away, then approached him.

"Ah—" She toyed with the rim of her beret. "What did you say to her?"

Luka smiled, giving her the short version. "That I know you didn't do it."

Marinette blinked up at him, her eyes aglow with more knowledge than she should've had. "But—but you weren't there."

"I know." He looked her up and down. "Is that your design?"

"Hm?" She glanced at her outfit. "Oh! Yeah. You can tell?"

He nodded. "It has _you_ written all over it."

"Mhm!" She exclaimed proudly. Showing him the beret, she explained, "Like, here, you can see that I have my name—"

She paused, realization dawning that he wasn't being literal. Luka grinned.

"Oh." She blushed, putting the beret back on her head.

"It looks good on you," he complimented smoothly.

She chuckled sheepishly, waving dismissively at him. "T-thanks. It'll look better on Juleka though."

He walked over to stand next to her. "Mind if I watch?"

"No! Not at all!" she exclaimed, sounding surprised that he'd even suggest otherwise. "Please, come."

She turned and started heading back towards the group. Luka followed after her with a smile.

"Thanks, Marinette."

She looked up at him, tilting her head in confusion. "For what?"

He wanted to say it was for helping Juleka model, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Plus, thanking her for real was Juleka's job, not his.

He settled for thanking her through his expression alone, letting it convey whatever he felt in that moment. He didn't know what his face looked like, but it caused Marinette to blush and quickly avert her gaze back to the group.

Luka chuckled. Secretly, he wanted to thank her for that reaction too.


End file.
